New Zealand Rehabilitation Association, Inc.

Over the past few months the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and the Carers' Alliance (a network of 43 non-government organisations) have been undertaking community consultation on the development of a national Carers' Strategy.  The intent of this strategy is to better support people, such as family members, who are in a position of providing informal care to New Zealanders with a disability.

MSD reports that ‘Developing the Carers' Strategy is part of the Government's Choices for Living, Caring and Working ten year strategy which aims to provide parents and carers with choices about how to balance their work and family commitments.’  The draft strategy has covered issues such as: recognition of the role of informal carers, addressing health risks associated with care-giving, provision of information to assist carers with making decisions about their lives, addressing the issue of children and young people in the role of carer, ensuring the strategy is responsive to the need of carers who are Maori, Pacific Islanders or of other ethnicity.

MSD and the Carers Alliance plan to complete New Zealand’s first national Carers’ Strategy by April 2008.  For more information visit the Carer's Strategy website by clicking here.